The Tragedy of NiGHTS
by Ziltron
Summary: A reinterpretation of the pregame story...in songfic form. That's right, SONGIFC. You have been warned.
1. Dreams Come True, Reality Less So

Dedication:

For all the crazy peeps on n i g h t s i n t o d r e a m s . c o m, who have provided me with endless hours of entertainment while lurking on the boards. But since this collection of shoddily constructed lyrics has nothing to do with Gens / iMAGNi / Bunny Men, it's going up on f f . n e t instead of the forum. May this collection of shoddily constructed lyrics not burn your eyes too much.

* * *

THE TRAGEDY OF NiGHTS

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

NiGHTS. EMMALINA. CHRIS, Emmalina's lover.  
REALA, the brother of NiGHTS. CLARIS.

(Wizeman's Courtroom). Jackel, Gillwing, Puffy, Clawz, Gulpo, et. all.

* * *

SONGS

01 - Dreams Come True (Reality Less So)  
02 - Shut the Blinds, I'll Sleep Forever  
03 - Against My Better Judgment, I Love You  
04 - Revenge, a Bloody Dagger  
05 - Prayer of the Righteous Son  
06 - Where Light Is As Darkness  
07 - Sowing Seeds (The Dream Goes On)

* * *

_Chris, a boy with heart of stone  
__Emmalina, lost, alone  
__Thief of dreams steps in their home  
__NiGHTS, the heir to Nightmare's throne_

* * *

Our story begins as NiGHTS, the First Prince of Nightmare, descends upon a quiet apartment in Twin Seeds. He is there to torment yet another dreamer: this time, a young woman in her early twenties named 'Emmalina.' With a light chuckle, he stirs her thoughts with his finger, conjuring up some of his favorite terrors: the wild beast that cannot be outrun, drowning in an ice-covered lake, and his favorite, falling from the sky onto a bed of broken glass.

But the young woman doesn't try to outrun the shadow beast, but simply lets it tear her to pieces. She lets herself sink to the bottom of the ice-covered lake, embracing the tangled weeds that wrap themselves around her body. And as she falls through the sky, a thousand feet in the air, her only reaction is a faint smile. Even when he reaches into her soul and tears out her Ideya, she does not so much as flinch.

NiGHTS finishes with Emmalina and moves to the young man lying beside her. This one puts up the usual struggles and screams, but they no longer bring NiGHTS any pleasure. Not even stealing the young man's Ideya gives him the same rush. He shrugs it off and returns home, but something within him has been shaken.

On his next mission, NiGHTS returns to their home and watches the couple's dreams from a distance. And as he sees their lives unfold before him, he feels something he has never known before. He feels pity for the weak, pitiful creatures known as humans.

* * *

01 - Dreams Come True (Reality Less So)

NiGHTS:

He is a book that nobody has read  
And she is a ghost that sleeps in his bed  
They say life is good, but just not to them  
She's taking another inch off the hem

Of the skirt that she bought when she turned sixteen  
When her life fell apart and she lost all her dreams  
A sob in the dark and a nightmare by day  
Her life has unraveled, she's fading away in his arms

Chorus:  
If your life is a dream  
And if time is a stream  
That you can't step into again  
I will stay here tonight,  
Be the wings of your flight,  
'Till this nightmare of life has an end

She has a knight wearing armor of steel  
To protect himself from having to feel  
The last of the worst in a long string of men  
He's saying whatever just to get in

To the skirt that she bought when she turned sixteen  
When the world fell apart and she started to lean  
On whoever was there and whoever would stay  
Her life has unraveled, I'll take her away from it all

Chorus x2


	2. Shut the Blinds, I'll Sleep Forever

NiGHTS watches the dreamers for weeks before approaching them. Working up his nerve, he introduces himself to the young man, whose name is Chris.

Unfortunately, Chris remembers having his Ideya stolen and attacks the mighty nightmaren in blind desperation. Not wanting to hurt the dreamer, NiGHTS leaves his mind and tries talking to the young woman instead.

Emmalina does nothing to acknowledge NiGHTS' presence. She simply stares past him and into her empty dream world. In a fit of frustration, NiGHTS seizes her by the arm and takes her flying. And, in the sky of Spring Valley, he is graced by the same weak smile as before.

In time, Emmalina learns to trust NiGHTS and even look forward to his visits. The First Prince of Nightmare is no less excited to be free of the intrigues and maneuverings of Nightmare, if only for a few hours. The smiling face of Emmalina seems to take away all the troubles in the world.

* * *

02 - Shut the Blinds, I'll Sleep Forever

Emmalina:

Dancing in the stars  
And falling from the moon  
Oh singer in the sky,  
This night can't come too soon

A gentle breeze blowing  
A melody flowing  
A friend's knowing smile and kiss

A strange purple vision  
Two worlds in collision  
All good I envision is this

Chorus:  
Oh holy night  
Hold me in your starry light  
Frozen fire of heaven's height  
My lovely sprite  
Lullaby from spirit bright  
Stay with me, my perfect dream's delight

Lightly touching hands  
Lighter than the air  
Gliding with you softly  
If I died I would not care

The earth far below us  
The night sings a chorus  
Of love finding that which was lost

Your face filled with laughter  
My heart beating faster  
I want this, no matter the cost

Chorus


	3. Against My Better Judgement, I Love You

Emmalina's grip on reality begins to fade in favor of her time with NiGHTS. She spends more and more time sleeping, until she never leaves the apartment and rarely leaves the bedroom. When she talks, all she speaks of is flying and the strange creature that lives in her dreams.

Chris is absolutely horrified when he listens to her description of the purple demon. Recognizing NiGHTS from his own dreams, he can only watch helplessly as she slips further and further into the arms of what he sees as a monster. And surprisingly, he begins to undergo his own change of heart.

* * *

03 - Against My Better Judgment, I Love You

Chris:

I can't see into her eyes  
She's always staring at the sun  
She's always staring at someone  
That nobody sane can see

Did we ever live inside  
The same reality?  
Was she just talking in her sleep  
When she said we're meant to be?

Chorus 1:

Imagine a boy with nothing left  
Imagine a girl who's nothing  
Imagine the one thing that you've lost  
Is the thing worth having

I've never felt this fear before  
It's like a kingdom coming  
It's like a dark side to the moon  
I see forever's ending

Just a temporary girl  
She's another empty fling  
Another broken promise ring  
Just some stupid ugly whore

If she's heading for a fall,  
I should be heading for the door  
I shouldn't take this anymore  
She's just the new thing to ignore

Chorus 2:

Imagine a girl with deadly eyes  
Imagine her death impending  
Imagine there's nothing you can do -  
Could you still do nothing?

I saw myself within your eyes  
The girl that no one could save  
Fallen angel in disguise  
A voice that spoke from the grave


	4. Revenge, a Bloody Dagger

Unfortunately, the other nightmaren do not forget about intrigue and maneuverings for a single moment. One of NiGHTS' own servants tells Reala about his treasonous friendship with a human. The Second Prince of Nightmare thanks the low-level 'maren and then promptly kills it to ensure he is the only one who can profit from NiGHTS' indiscretion.

The next night, Reala follows his twin Prince to the apartment to see what is happening for himself. With glee, he watches NiGHTS cavort with the human female, a treasonous offense. NiGHTS will not be First after Wizeman hears about this.

But even more delicious is the young man lying next to the girl. The impotent rage against NiGHTS that burns in Chris' dreams could be very useful to Reala in adding a personal twist to his victory. After all, what better way to crush his rival than with a young man he tried to help?

* * *

04 - Revenge, a Bloody Dagger 

Chris:

Lightning falling  
Crash of thunder  
Lay me down to bed

Flutter of a  
Rising demon  
Black and white and red

Reala:

I send the darkness as it falls  
I put the shadows on your walls  
I slay the sun with bloody roar  
Streaking clouds with heaven's gore

What would you request of me  
God of war and nightmare sleep?

Chris:

Hour of my  
Desperation  
Hanging by a thread

Give me strength to  
Slay my rival  
Come into my head

Reala:

I'll break his body in my jaws  
Tear his flesh with outstretched claws  
But no gold can pay my fee  
You must give yourself to me

What would you give up for love  
On this night of tears and blood?

Chris:

Parting with this  
Feeble body  
Matters nothing now

Lying in our  
Bed I put a  
Last kiss on your brow

Reala:

What would you request of me  
God of war and nightmare sleep?  
What would you give up for love  
On this night of tears and blood?

Chris:

Hour of my  
Desperation  
Hanging by a thread

Give me strength to  
Slay my rival  
Come into my head


	5. Prayer of the Righteous Son

Seizing Chris, Reala flies back to Nightmare, laughing all the way. He throws the dreamer before Wizeman and commands him to tell the ruler of Nightmare all that has happened. Trembling like a leaf, Chris tells the mighty wizard how NiGHTS has stolen Emmalina's love.

Sneering at the word, Reala shoves Chris aside. Standing before Wizeman's court, he makes his plea for revenge.

* * *

05 - Prayer of the Righteous Son

Reala:

Thou seeing hand unfolded  
That my own weak frame molded  
Oh hear me, Domine  
My brother falls away

Now mind that worlds created  
Lend power to my hatred  
Send vengeance, Domine  
On this, the Judgment Day

Send dark clouds of meteors  
Fire bolts, tornado storms  
Till my brother is no more  
Destroy him, Domine

Those who stray from heaven's path  
Soon must taste the heaven's wrath  
Burn the traitor up like chaff  
Consume him, Domine

Coiled snakes, thy servants wait  
To strike the feet of those you hate  
The cursed of Domine  
All those who disobey

Bow all before the master  
Of gods and demons lesser  
My God, my Domine  
To you alone I pray

To make war on Nightmare's throne  
By showing love to flesh and bone  
No blood, no penance could atone  
Rise up, my Domine

Foulest good, my darkest light  
Show this fool thy will is right  
That I may cry "There is no NiGHTS!"  
Now end him, Domine


	6. Where Light is as Darkness

Wizeman nods in assent. An example must be made. And so, a roaring, swirling mass of Nightmaren flies out from his court to bring back the renegade prince. Reala, out of spite, merges with Chris and leads the howling pack.

NiGHTS barely has enough time to force Emmalina awake before the horde is upon him. They beat him within an inch of his life and take him before Wizeman, who sentences him to imprisonment in the Ideya Palace for all eternity. Chris, his usefulness gone, has his Ideya torn out again and wakes up back in his room, gasping for air.

Emmalina is already standing by the door, her things packed into a small suitcase. They stare at each other for a moment. Neither is really certain what has happened, but both know that no words are needed. He cries. She leaves. They are both alone.

* * *

06 - Where Light Is As Darkness

Emmalina:

Even with the wind gone  
I can hear a bird's song  
Whistling the spirit of the air

Even in the sunshine  
There's a cloud in my mind  
Shadow of the memories we shared

Oh, is this the way we must survive,  
With only pain to tell us we're alive?  
So, I don't think that I'll sleep again  
Just watch the sun go down and then  
Try not to think of flying with a friend

Chris:

Sitting by the window  
Watching all the cars go  
Wishing for your face in every one

Sitting on the bedside  
Where your head would once lie  
Knowing that it never will again

Oh, is this the way that love must end,  
Without a chance, before it could begin?  
So, I don't think that I'll sleep tonight  
Just slip in bed and kill the light  
And die inside a little at a time

NiGHTS:

Star light, star bright  
But I see no star tonight  
I wish I may, I wish I might  
Live; to see you one more night

Star fine, star mine  
Let me see you one last time  
I will go, and I will fly  
Anywhere to see you shine

My light (E: I cannot go on like this)  
My life (C: There is no more forgiveness)  
One try (E: I'd die to give it to you)  
One night (C: How can I live without you?)  
Can make it all alright

Now I'm star blind  
Standing in the light divine  
Smallest sun, brightest sign  
Stay forever, make me thine

My light (E: I'll shine for you forever)  
My life (C: You're shining in the ether)  
One try (E: I'd fall from heaven for you)  
One night (C:All of yourdreams will come true)  
Will make it all alright


	7. Sowing Seeds

Even in darkness, there is light. Everything has a purpose, even separation, destruction, and despair. The problem is, human eyes can't see that what looks like a tragedy is really a happy ending in disguise.

Soon, Wizeman's forces will stumble upon the Red Dreamers. NiGHTS will be released from his prison, and the throne of Nightmare will be shaken. For now, Emmalina and Chris have only despair, but this night isn't over yet. And when the day comes, it will shine all the brighter for the darkness that they've seen.

* * *

07 - Sowing Seeds (The Dream Goes On)

Claris:

In the night  
You and I  
In the night  
You know, the shining stars are waiting for us

In this night  
One last try  
In this night  
I know, that you will wait too


	8. BONUS SUCKAGE!

**Author's Notes (And Set Up For an UnfunnyJoke):**

_The Poorly Named Tragedy of NiGHTS_ took about four months to write, from the first line that popped into my head ("_He is a book that nobody has read_") to the writing of these authors notes ("_Author's Notes (And Set Up For anUnfunny Joke)_"…get it?). All things considered, it turned out as good as I could have hoped for.

And frankly, even if it had turned out a lot worse, the sheer fun of sitting under trees with a pen and scrap of paper for hours on end would have been enough for me. There's nothing like letting go of it all and just seeing what pops into your head at the spur of the moment. And then obsessively tweaking every little detail of every single line until it all falls into some sort of coherent whole.

These lyrics are influenced by:

_The Everglow_ by Mae. If you see this album in a record store somewhere, buy it without hesitation. It is a brilliantly brilliant psycho-freaking-logical journey of epic proportions and it will bring untold joy into your miserable life.

_So Much for the Afterglow_ by Everclear. I'm not going to tell you to buy this album. You should already have it. Almost every track is OMFG amazing. It is depressing as hell in a good way.

_Beethoven's Last Night_ by Trans-Siberian Orchestra. _ToN_'s story-telling structure was unceremoniously pilfered from these wonderful people. _Beethoven's Last Night_ is interesting and deserves a listen at least.

_The Bible_ by Various Artists. Yeah, the f'ing Bible. _Prayer of the Righteous Son_ is a straight-up imprecatory Psalm. Aside from being interesting and the foundation of a major religion, if you ever want to understand Western literature/poetry, you need to read this book.

Let's see, what else…never expect to see MP3s of this shit. I can't sing or play any instruments and my friends who _can_ would pierce their own genitals with a rusty fork before writing music for a NiGHTS rock opera. If you're interested in what the tune was meant to sound like, I have some crappy .wav files of myself singing them horribly off-key.Request at your own risk.

BONUS SUCKAGE:

So, not every song and chorus made it into the final cut. This is because many of them sucked to an extent that they create a vacuum and nature itself had to destroy them.

But some of them were pitiful enough to be humorously bad. So, even though doing so may constitute a crime against humanity, I'm going to expose you to their hideous glory now.

This first one is sappier than making sweet, sweet love to a maple tree:

* * *

"Brighter Days"

Emmalina:

Other people have their dreams  
But never us, or so it seems  
Now I must wait for brighter days  
But know that I will wait - always

* * *

Uh, yeah. I think I need an insulin injection now.

Before taking the easy way out and writing lyrics to _Sowing Seeds_, I wrote about 5 bajillion ending songs for this monstrosity. Here is one of them:

* * *

"Just a Dream"

NiGHTS:

Hey, now, what's this you're saying?  
Bite that tongue and quit complaining  
It's not like it seems  
After all, I'm just a dream

Life is a river flowing  
No one knows just where it's going  
Shed no tears for me  
After all, I'm just a dream

* * *

Because that is just exactly what NiGHTS would say after having the shit beat out of him by a bunch of 'maren. NEXT!

* * *

"Grow Your Own Damn Wings"

NiGHTS:

But for all the tears you cry  
And for all the words you say  
I'm another fading night  
On another dawning day

And if life is just a dream  
Then when all of this done  
No one can really know about  
What other dreams may come

Another chance to fly  
And an empty sky above  
Every breeze that comes along  
Is another one to love

So for everywhere you go  
And for all the things you scream  
Life is just an empty boat  
Riding on an empty stream

* * *

Dear God, it hurts to even look at it. Seriously. What horrible corner ofthe collectiveunconciousdid _that_ crawl out of?

Finally, a song that was never part of this fic, but _was_ very much NiGHTS influenced. Well, NiGHTS and a friend saying 'And then we fly blind.' Yeah. Its horrendousness is so great that it could only have been written by an angst-ridden teenager. Which is exactly what happened.

* * *

"Flying Blindly"

A long time ago  
I began to lose my way  
And wander all alone  
Oh how I curse that day

For years I wandered, hopeless  
And those years soon took their toll  
And I thought the whole thing pointless  
And my heart soon became cold

But then I met somebody  
Who had further lost their way  
And I knew I had to help them  
Oh, now I can see that day

So then we walked together  
Though we never spoke a word  
And the journey became kinder  
And I didn't mind the cold

Chorus:

Won't you fly with me?  
Won't you sail and soar?  
Won't you share with me,  
So we'll both have more?

Flying blindly  
Isn't all that bad  
If you'll fly with me  
And you'll hold my hand

Though we may have had to weather  
Many an angry storm  
We just held onto each other  
And we never came to harm

And we walked in silence  
Then we walked in noise  
In the evening starlight,  
I would hear your voice:

"Though we walk in hardship,  
And the world's unkind,  
I know we will make it,  
Though we're flying blind."

And the night was lovely  
With the stars above  
We forgot our worries  
And we fell in love

Chorus

Waking up that morning  
We were not alone  
When we found each other  
We had found our home

So our journey ended,  
We were happy, for  
We had found our families  
And we found much more

Chorus x2

Flying blindly  
Isn't all that bad  
If you'll fly with me  
And you'll hold my hand

* * *

Well, after that round of extraordinarily painful verse, I think I'm ready to nip off and shoot myself. Remember kids, every time you write a bad poem, Reala crucifies a baby Nightopian.

ZILTRON OUT.


End file.
